Over 600 fishermen stranded off Gujarat coast; starving without food and water

With the extremely severe cyclonic storm, 'Maha' expected to hit the Gujarat coast late Wednesday night or early Thursday morning, over 40 boats with nearly 600 fishermen and other crew members from Tamil Nadu have been stuck at the Veraval port in Gujarat's Gir Somnath district for the past 13 days.

Gir Somnath (Gujarat): Over 40 boats with nearly 600 fishermen and other crew members from Tamil Nadu have been stranded at the Veraval port in Gujarat's Gir Somnath district for the past 13 days following warnings issued by the Indian Coast Guard in view of the extremely severe cyclonic storm 'Maha', which is expected to hit the Gujarat coast late Wednesday night or early Thursday morning.

With two cyclones - super cyclone Kyarr and Maha - affecting Gujarat, the fishermen were advised to dock their boats at the Veraval port to avoid the rough seas off the Gujarat coast by the Indian Coast Guard. But, as they were gearing up to leave the port in two days, the fishermen were yet again asked to stay put for an indefinite period of time with no food or water to sustain on.

The fishermen have been alleging lackadaisical attitude on the part of the Tamil Nadu government, Gujarat government and the centre, as they say, that they have been left by the respective governments to fend for themselves.

"I came here on a fishing expedition. It has been 13 days now that I have been stuck here. Nobody from the Tamil Nadu government or the central government came here to meet us and check if we had anything to eat or drink all these days,” said a fisherman from Tamil Nadu.

“We came here to save ourselves from the cyclone, but without food and water we won't be able to survive too long,” added the stranded fisherman.

Earlier, thirteen fishermen from Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Assam whose deep-sea fishing boats were stuck in Cyclone Maha for four days reached Kochi safely on Sunday night.

On Wednesday Cyclone Maha intensified into an ‘Extremely Severe Cyclonic Storm’ over the East-Central Arabian Sea and will continue to move in the north direction during the next 12 hours, and thereafter would increase its speed and start moving rapidly in east/northeast direction.

Cyclone Maha is expected to make landfall on the Gujarat coast between the Devbhumi-Dwarka district and the Union Territory of Diu.

Meanwhile, schools and colleges in coastal Palghar district of Maharashtra will remain closed from November 6 to 8 in view of warning of heavy rain due to cyclone 'Maha'.

Fishermen in Palghar and neighbouring Thane districts have also been asked not to venture into the sea, officials said.

The Navy on Tuesday said that its western command has prepared for humanitarian and disaster relief (HADR) operations along the Gujarat and north Maharashtra coast.

Four warships of the Western Naval Command have been loaded with HADR materials like food packets, water, medical supplies, and other essential commodities.

Naval units of the Gujarat Naval Area are ready with emergency response teams equipped with underwater diving equipment and inflatable boats. Additionally, naval aircraft and helicopters are also on standby, it said.

Naval authorities in Gujarat are in constant liaison with civil authorities to ensure seamless coordination, it added. Maha is expected to make landfall with winds up to 35-40 knots.